The field of the invention relates generally to a base assembly for supporting a product during shipment and, more particularly, to a base assembly having internal support members and reinforcing panels for supporting a product during shipment.
At least some known supporting structures, such as pallets, are used to support a base or bottom surface of objects or loads during transportation. For example, a supporting structure may be used to transport a home appliance such as a washing machine from the manufacturer to the distributor and the retailer to the customers. Vibrations and other forces exerted on the appliance may be distributed through the support structure during its transportation in an effort to prevent damage to the appliance. Some additional supporting structures (i.e., padding or protective material) may also have to be used to support and protect the appliance inside a container or other packaging during transportation.
However, some objects being shipped have internal components that extend towards the bottom of the item, but may not be fully supported during shipment. In particular, some internal components may be configured to move during the use of the object. For example, a washing machine may include a motor and a wash basket that are configured to move during use of the washing machine. During transportation of these types of items, the internal components may vibrate or move relative to the item and may cause damage to the item. In one example, movement of the wash basket of the washing machine during shipment may cause damage to springs coupled to the wash basket. The movement of the wash basket may also cause damage to an exterior housing of the washing machine due to the wash basket colliding with the exterior housing. In some cases, failure to support the wash basket of at least some washing machines during shipment of these washing machines may damage the washing machines such that it would not operate properly when it arrives for installation and use.
At least some known supporting structures may provide support for the internal components of the item during shipment of the item. These supporting structures may engage the internal components to limit movement of the internal components relative to the item during transportation. However, these known supporting structures lack sufficient reinforcement to withstand the horizontal forces (x-axis and/or y-axis forces) that are oftentimes exerted on the item being shipped. This may result in the shipped item being seriously damaged. For example, a fork truck or similar vehicle may be used to transfer the item from a shipping truck to a warehouse. These fork trucks typically exert a great deal of side forces on the item (i.e., appliance) when they grab and lift the item along with the supporting structure. In these cases, these known supporting structures are unable to withstand these forces, and thus, these known supporting structures will bend, crush, or otherwise deform. As a result of the supporting structure being unable to carry these forces, the item being shipped may also be damaged from these forces being applied.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a base assembly that supports an object during shipment of the object including support for certain internal components that may not be fully supported by the object itself because said components are moveable within the object and reinforcement to withstand horizontal forces applied to the base assembly during shipment.